


How Am I Gonna Be An Optimist About This?

by TheReluctantBlue



Category: Bastille (Band), Fall Out Boy
Genre: M/M, Reading and Leeds Festivals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-16 00:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5805616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheReluctantBlue/pseuds/TheReluctantBlue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Patrick has always been the optimist to Pete's pessimistic heart.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Am I Gonna Be An Optimist About This?

Reading and Leeds, always a spectacular music festival.

Pete has been so excited for this festival. The people are just  _wild_ and alive. He can feel his heart pumping along the sounds from the booming speakers, the crowd dances with the music on its every whim.

This is his life. Could it get any better?

It was the first day of the festival, and it's already full-packed with people in the morning. They'll be performing tomorrow afternoon and he's excited for it.

The crowd was filling up by the stage for the first performance of the event. He doesn't know much about the band. All he knows that they're a British band called  _Bastin_ or something?

"It's  _Bastille,_ Pete. Just like the Bastille Day celebration in France." Patrick supplies. 

That answers the question. "Are they good?"

Before Patrick could answer, the crowd starts to cheer as the band reveals themselves.

The guy in front of the mike, which is obviously the vocalist looks like in his mid-twenties, pretty much slaying that quiff. He looks reserved and quiet but Pete sees that the 'kid' is one of those  _types_ like Patrick where they have a switch somewhere and just turn into musical god mode when they have an instrument with them.

Their keyboard player has a  _nice_ beard and mustache going on there that could be on par with Andy's. The bassist looks intimidating, and their drummer's looks is pulling off the hair that reminds him of Andy's during van days.

The band looks like the odd set of people, and Pete's perfectly fine with that. He knows they've been like that as well. Until now.

A bunch of  _eheu eh-o's_ were chanted by the crowd, and Pete's pretty sure he has heard that song on the radio before. He remembers it now. It was pretty good. Quite a creative use of Pompeii and the story of Mt. Vesuvius.

 _"But if you close your eyes,_  
_Does it almost feel like_  
_Nothing changed at all?"_

Pete relates to the lyrics. He knows that feeling real well. It was a rather dark feeling that never actually left him. Dark thoughts still consume his mind.

 _"And if you close your eyes,_  
_Does it almost feel like_  
_You've been here before?"_

_"How am I gonna be an optimist about this?"_

Pete's gaze turns to Patrick, his lips mouthing the lyrics of the song, his foot tapping to the music's beat as he sings its chorus. The sight brings a smile to Pete's lips.

_"How am I gonna be an optimist about this?"_

Maybe the darkness never did left his mind, but Patrick has always been the optimist to Pete's pessimistic heart.

*****

"Hey, don't we have an interview with those kids?" Joe says as he munches on his sandwich, which is pretty disgusting how the food is spitting out of his mouth.

"Kids?" Pete turns to Patrick for an answer, who seems to be playing on his phone.

"Dan and Phil." Patrick answers.

Ah, yeah. He loves those kids. They make quite a duo, and it's fond to think about how those two remind him of Patrick and himself.

Only difference is, it's more than that. Though only in his part.

*****

The interview is on a little tent, and bless their height for that, hopefully they'd all fit fine in there.

There's another band being interviewed before them so they had to wait for it for a while. Pete doesn't mind, despite the hot weather. A lot of people went to this festival expecting the climate. Might as well enjoy it with them. 

Patrick nudges him, signalling that the other band just finished their interview. He sees a familiar quiff, and he's pretty sure it's those  _Bastale_ guys.

 _"Bastille"_ Patrick coughs beside him. He shrugs. It still sounds the same.

He can see the other band going their way. The quiff guy notices them and smiles at their direction, giving a little wave as they come closer.

It wasn't really directed at  _them._ It was directed to  _Patrick._

"Hi. Are you here for the interview as well?" Quiff british guy asks Patrick, and Pete is confused because he didn't know Patrick knows them. Not that he cares who Patrick should be friends with. Yup.

It's pretty surprising since he knows Joe is suppose to be the friendliest one when it comes to other bands.

"Yeah, we're up next. What did they ask you?" Patrick responds, as he beams at his ' _new friend'_.

Pete stares at them as they talk. It's like they've been long time friends by the way they talk animatedly with each other. No, he's not jealous. He's not clenching his hands that almost turn white because quiff guy is all goody-goody to Patrick and making him smile like that. Nope. Not. Jealous.

"We ought to be going. Your interview is up. See you later, Patrick?" Quiff guy gives a smile in Patrick's direction and a tentative wave on theirs before they walked away.

"Dude. Stop glaring at them." Joe whispers after they see them off. Patrick and Andy had already gone ahead to the tent. Joe gives him a _deal your shit later_ kind of look, he can feel himself calm down for a bit, as he shrugs at Joe.

*****

"So are you guys acquaintances with some of the featured bands here in the festival?" Dan asked during off camera of the interview, while Phil looks very fascinated with the shades he's holding. All of them (except Dan and Phil) were inside of the tent. 

Joe went off this long list of bands he met with during their whole time in the festival and it was a mystery how he did it because Joe has been with them the whole time. Trust Joe and his 'friendship' skills.

"--met the vocalist of Bastille."

Pete perked up, hearing Patrick's voice. He's pretty sure Patrick's talking about quiff guy. Joe seems to have choked on something god knows what and Pete hopes he dies from it right now just so he could shut up. Andy raised an eyebrow and must have noticed how Joe starts (fake) coughing. Pete can really hear a laugh in there and Pete blesses his self-restraint right now.

Patrick, the oblivious wonder, continues speaking how he met quiff guy. (like wow Patrick is having fun and making new friends without him. Ouch.) He barely noticed Dan and Phil sending a wary glance at his direction since he was too busy judging Patrick right now.

"--told me about their music and--"

"Can we start the interview now?" Pete interjects. He feels like an asshole when Patrick sends him a glare but he can't really help it.

 _Fucking quiff guy_.

*****

After Dan and Phil, they were scheduled for another interview in the evening. Most of their day consisted walking around the festival and meeting some fans. Joe was mostly likely talking to another band right now, Andy went to some booth. And Patrick...

...has been gone since the interview ended.

So he shouldn't be surprised when he finds Patrick with none other than  _fucking quiff guy_ and his band  _Bastard._

"Pete!" Patrick waves for him the moment he noticed Pete ~~glaring~~  looking over at them. Pete thinks it's better that he goes there just to make sure quiff guy doesn't have any bad ideas.

Quiff guy is definitely  _taller_ up close. He's not intimidated, of course.

"Pete, this is Dan Smith." Patrick points at quiff guy as he gives Pete a small wave. "This guy is Chris Wood." Patrick introduces the guy with the Van Days Andy hairdo who insists to be called 'Woody'. And then he introduces the mustache-bearded guy as Kyle Simmons, and intimidating bassist as Will Farquarson.

 _'So British.'_ Pete thought.

"And this is my bassist and best friend, Pete Wentz." Patrick introduces, which is kinda sweet since he sounds proud of it. That kinda makes it a bit better for him, as he couldn't help but smile at Patrick.

He was too busy smiling at Patrick that he doesn't notice the knowing look that Dan sends at them. "Nice to meet you. Patrick here has been telling us a lot about you." 

Pete looks up at Dan. "All the good things, I hope?"

What started out as small talk took a long turn. Dan was pretty chatty when the longer it took. And Pete had to compliment the kid for his skills in music. His band mates are pretty hilarious, especially Kyle, who seems fond of making puns.

Pete decides, they're not so bad.

(And Dan's definitely not  _quiff guy_ anymore.)

*****

Patrick was watching another band perform along with Dan's band mates. He excused himself myself as he answered a few texts from Joe and Andy.

"Why aren't you with Patrick?" a voice behind him asked. He's pretty sure it's Dan.

"Just answered a few texts." He shrugs.

Dan nods, and turns to look around to where Patrick and his band mates are. They were jamming along with the playing band, and Patrick looks happier than Pete has seen him in the last few months. He deserves it. He's been through so much, and maybe the hiatus has been good for all of them. They were able to think about things. They were able settle things within themselves.

And maybe he was able to settle his own feelings.

"Pete, can I ask you something? This is rather impolite of me to ask of you, though." 

He turns to look at Dan, his gaze still turned to the crowd where Patrick and his band mates are.

"Well, don't leave me hanging. Ask away." It'll leave him curious for the rest of the day if he doesn't let Dan ask his question.

Dan turns his gaze on him, a knowing smile is placed on his lips, as if he knows a secret that no one else knows. 

"Why don't you tell him?"

Despite the vague question, Pete knows what the question means. He wasn't exactly subtle, acting like a jealous boyfriend even when there was nothing between him and Patrick.

Before he could answer the question, Dan continues. "Whatever it is. Talking about it would help. There's nothing to be ashamed of reminiscing some flaws, as painful or as depressing it sounds. Remembering some flaws will help you back on track." 

Pete stays silent, processesing the words that Dan said. It sounded wise for someone like Dan. But he gets it. Him and Patrick didn't exactly go off well when hiatus happened. They we're still in contact during those times but he knows it's not as the same as before. They decided to forget about it, and it went okay. He had the band back, they're all in good terms again.

But there's always that lingering hurt when he pushes away the unwanted memories that he never wished to return to. Who would even want to remember the mistakes they made in life? It's horrible.

Maybe talking about his flaws and facing his mistakes would give him some closure. He shouldn't hope for the things from the past to return the same way as they are now.

Though he can hope that it'll become better. If he begins again.

Pete has been lost to the sea of his thoughts when he felt a pat on his shoulder. Dan nods off to Patrick's direction, who seems to be waving at him and Dan from the crowd.

"Hey, Dan? Thanks." Pete says as they both walk back to Patrick's side. Dan chuckles beside him.

"It'll turn out fine." Dan says with assurance. And Pete was inclined to take his word on that.

*****

"You two seem to be getting along. That's good." Patrick says to him as they got to the hotel room. "I was kinda worried you'd have a fight with him or something."

Pete stares up at the ceiling as he lies in one of the beds, he can feel himself smiling. "Nah. He was too skinny to fight with. Felt bad for him."

"Yeah, right. You just admitted earlier that he writes better lyrics than you." Patrick teases as he sets up his laptop.

Pete thinks about what kind of retort he'd say, but instead, he says: "He's an intelligent kid."

"Yeah."

They stay silent after that. Leaving both of them to bask on the silence of the room. Pete can hear the soft click of Patrick as he types on his laptop, the soft tick of the clock by the wall, and the hum of the air conditioning that cools off the room.

He doesn't feel that insomniac urge. He feels like he could sleep if he wants too. But he doesn't.

"Hey Pete?" Patrick speaks an hour later, and he's still awake.

"Yeah?"

He heard some rustling, as Patrick stood up on put a piece of paper on his face. Pete sits up and stares at the neatly folded paper with the words that scribbled " _To Pete_ " on it.

"Dan says you might need it. He told me not to read it and give it to you directly." Patrick mumbles as he in front of his laptop again.

Pete stares at the folded piece of paper for a moment, before opening it. He doesn't know what to expect. He certainly didn't expect lyrics.

_"When all of your flaws and all of my flaws are laid out one by one_  
_A wonderful part of the mess that we made_  
_We pick ourselves undone_

_All of your flaws and all of my flaws, they lie there hand in hand_  
_Ones we’ve inherited, ones that we learn_  
_They pass from man to man_

_There’s a hole in my soul_  
_I can’t fill it, I can’t fill it_  
_There’s a hole in my soul_  
_Can you fill it? Can you fill it?_

_You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve_  
_And I have always buried them deep beneath the ground_  
_Dig them up - let’s finish what we started_  
_Dig them up - so nothing’s left unturned"_

At the bottom of the lyrics, the word " _Flaws"_ was written, which Pete would have guessed as the title of the lyrics, along with the initials  _D. Smith_ on it. Dan was right. He does need this.

At the very bottom of the paper, there was something else written in small letters:  _"be sure to tell Patrick how you feel about him after you've both settled some things ;) -- D.S."_

"Did he write some pun to you?" Patrick asked, clearly amused by the goofy smile on Pete's lips.

Pete shook his head, his smile becoming wider as he turns his gaze to Patrick. Patrick expects an answer but Pete just lies on bed again, covering himself with a blanket as he turns his back to Patrick.

"Come on, Pete. What did he say? Tell me." Patrick insists, and Pete knows he doesn't like being left in the dark.

Pete chuckles, clearly imagining Patrick pouting about it. "I'll tell you everything tomorrow, Patrick. _Everything_."

He's willing to start again. Pete can't say what's ahead of his future. Of  _their_ future. But he has hopes that it would only get better from here.

_'I promise.'_

 

**Author's Note:**

> I love Bastille so much, okay?? I just thought I really needed to write this one. Irrelevant. I know.
> 
> The setting is during the Reading and Leeds Festival 2013, and they were in the same event. I saw the Dan and Phil montage of 'My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark' where they we're singing along with the song. I thought a crossover would be good. The only bad idea about this is that I became the writer for this hahahaha! (Both songs mentioned are from Bastille, of course)
> 
> Anyway. It's Valentines here so, Happy Valentine's?  
> Sorry for the mistakes and have a nice day!


End file.
